L-O-V-E, love. It’s everywhere right now, with the heart-shaped candies and chocolates, the elaborate flower ensembles, the human-sized teddy bears, but is this really how we show our love? Love is everywhere all the time and definitely not in just these forms. Some would say love makes the world go ‘round. So what is this powerful, world-revolving “love?” According to Nat King Cole, this word can be broken down simply with his famous lyrics, “L is for the way you look at me, O is for the only one I see, V is very, very extraordinary, and E is even more than anyone that you adore.” But according to South High students, love isn’t so easily defined. With approximately 78% of the school believing in love at this age, I was curious as to what exactly my peers thought about this ideology.

Senior Rodney Wiegele spoke against dating at this age, saying,
“I don’t think people in high school can properly give their love and do it in a way that is good for both parties involved. There is still a lot of uncertainty in how we make decisions.”

He is not the only one who feels this way. Junior Jaime Rabon believes there’s more to life in high school than dating. She rather worry about what her own future holds for her. Her words exactly,
“Money over love.”

But does love and dating go in hand in hand? Well not necessarily, as 84% of students believed dating is beneficial. That’s 6% higher than those who said they believed in love during these four years. Many Redwings agreed casual dating is more common in high school than serious, whatever that means.
Senior Natalie Binversie spoke for dating despite not being in a relationship herself. This is thanks to witnessing her close friends’ relationship with each other. These two will remain unnamed, but are seen as a power couple at South High. Binversie spoke fondly of the two, admitting,
“I think they really are in love and they’re going to get married and if they hadn’t dated in high school, they certainly wouldn’t have the same relationship and I’d be so sad.”
How does one find a significant other as the two prior? Majority of Redwings agreed with each other that they look for common traits when searching for a potential candidate. Junior Justice Reese expressed her ideal significant other,
“Someone who likes me for me, not just what I look like. Someone who can make me laugh at any moment in time and who is kindhearted and loves his friends and family.”
Other responses included, but were not limited to: personality over appearance, appearance over personality, must be taller or shorter, have great hair, be athletic and/or successful, must have cash on hand (Yes, surprise! Girls are cheering for feminism, but some would like chivalry to pay for these dates yet), passionate, competitive, somewhat shy, confident in themselves, funny, and apparently a lot of preference towards brown eyes. All in all, Redwings are diverse in their prospective partner tastes.
Sophomore Meghann Tuzinkewich said because of this, she agrees dating in high school is a good thing. She argued,
“Dating lets you experience all different types of people to see what may be your perfect match.”
Love may be tricky to define, but high school may be a perfect time to figure out what that one word means to you. Whether you believe in dating during high school or not, this time of the year reminds us to show those we care about our love for them. Conveniently for South High Redwings, they can still buy their friends and love interests a singing telegram and/or carnations to be delivered tomorrow on Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day is a special day at South no matter what, as the halls and classrooms are filled with beautiful carnations and singing from our very own South High Singers. So show those you care about you love them, not just tomorrow, but everyday. As Freshman Melina Couturier wisely said,
“Love knows no age.”